San Diego Tap Water: How Does Yours Rank for Drinking & Softness?
Water is one of those things that many of us take for granted. You turn on the tap, and freshwater comes out. But just how fresh or soft is San Diego’s tap water?
San Diego tap water quality is something that’s good to know, whether you’re a local or a visitor. After all, the last thing you want is tap water that’s incredibly hard or unsafe to drink.
With that in mind, here’s everything you need to know about San Diego tap water.
Table of Contents
What You Need To Know About Your Home’s Tap Water
There’s a wide range of water districts throughout San Diego County, including districts that service specific cities in the regions and districts that serve water to particular neighborhoods of San Diego proper.
However, the tap water quality will generally be fairly uniform across the board. This is because the entirety of San Diego — and much of Southern California — gets its own from similar sources. San Diego imports up to 90% of its tap water from the Colorado River and Northern California.
In other words, La Jolla water quality will be pretty similar to Escondido’s water quality. There will be variations, but they won’t be significant.
San Diego Tap Water Quality
Taking a broad overview, San Diego’s tap water generally meets the guidelines put forth by the Environment Protection Agency. This means that it’s safe to bathe in, clean with, and drink.
However, ranking the actual quality of San Diego tap water comes down to how you define it. San Diego generally has very hard tap water with high concentrations of minerals. Additionally, some residents complain about the taste. In our Ask A Naturopathic Doctor series, we covered water quality concerns and at-home or on-the-go filtration concerns from Doctor Laura Kostrzewski from Avena Natural Health in Solana Beach.
Is San Diego Tap Water Safe to Drink?
If you’re a visitor to America’s Finest City, you may ask yourself, “Is San Diego tap water safe to drink?” The answer to that is yes.
The city doesn’t have the freshest water in the world by a long shot, but drinking San Diego tap water won’t harm you. That’s because, as mentioned earlier, the city’s water supply generally meets EPA standards for safe drinking water.
How To Test Your Tap Water in Your San Diego Home
Whether wanting to improve your health or elevate water purity – San Diego homeowners might be curious about the water quality in their own homes. After all, even if the general water supply is considered safe, plumbing specific to certain homes or neighborhoods could affect the quality.
If you want to test your home’s tap water for safety, mineral content, or other metrics, you can do so with a water testing kit. There are a variety of kits out there, including options for testing for bacteria and other kits focused on testing for water hardness.
Water Quality Report for San Diego Tap Water
Each year, the City of San Diego publishes a drinking water quality report detailing the city’s water supply. In addition to the San Diego water quality report, other local water districts — like those servicing cities in the county — may publish their own reports.
The Annual Drinking Water Quality Report gives a range of details about the minerals, chemicals, and other compounds found in San Diego tap water. That includes everything from copper and lead to disinfectants like bromate and chlorite.
Hard Water in San Diego
There’s no getting around it — San Diego tap water is hard. As mentioned earlier, this is largely because of the high mineral content.
San Diego water hardness can affect the taste of tap water. More importantly to homeowners, hard water can wreak havoc on plumbing and leave mineral deposits in your fixtures and appliances.
That’s why it’s a good idea to invest in a water softener in San Diego.
Benefits To A Water Softener
While the taste benefits are subjective, softer water is easier on your pipes and won’t leave as many mineral deposits. This can save you plenty of money in the long run.
Additionally, water softeners are also associated with better skin and hair. This is because your skin will pick up and hold moisture easier from water with fewer minerals. You can also expect benefits when cleaning both clothing and dishes.
How To Treat San Diego Hard Water
The easiest way to treat hard water is to install a water softener in your home. Generally, these are filtration systems that attach to the water supply in your house. Once installed, you’ll have softer water across your entire home.
While there are various water softening solutions, one of the most common and effective uses ion exchange to remove minerals from the water. Other types include salt-free water softeners, reverse osmosis, and magnetic water softening systems.
Differences Between A Water Softener and Water Conditioner
Water softeners and water conditioners are similar in function but vary in some key ways. While a water softener will actually remove minerals from your water supply, a water conditioner physically alters the structure of minerals in the water to soften them.
Along with reduced mineral deposits, water conditioners can also improve the taste and smell of your home’s tap water.
Making San Diego Tap Water Better
Can you drink tap water in San Diego? The answer is yes. However, not everyone will be a fan of the taste of San Diego’s water — and most won’t be fans of the other downsides to hard water.
Luckily, between water softeners and water conditioners, there are some easy ways to improve the quality of the tap water in your San Diego home.
Named after Pearl Street in La Jolla, Pearl is the unofficial mascot of the various elves on the daily news desk at LaJolla.com. We’re writers, editors, and people who work on websites; sometimes so many people work on one project that no one feels like they should take the credit.
